KIrby Allen tells stories now and again

I'm here to tell you all that Montana smith is just as bad as the rest of us!! Don't let him slicker you like he did me , no sir , keep your eyes open and listen hard !!!

He put a brake on my friends Lazzeroni warbird . OK , OK , OK , the WORK WAS FLAWLESS but.........when asked how the recoil is after the brake installment thats where he just out and out told a whopper , prevaricated , lied big time ( thats what happens when they get rich and famous )

Yessir , he said that brake made the rifle feel like it was a 270 . What a bunch of bull !!!!!!!!!!

Near as I can assess it after 30 or so consecutive rounds at the bench shooting practically totally free recoil it may be at the 243 level [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] Yes , there is a lot of afterburner wash across the face, doesn't bother me a bit and does not influence the next shot whatsoever .

So far load development has been with the 200 gr. Nosler AB and RL 25 . A 200 gr bullet at 3200 fps is not catastrophic as far as recoil but it is attention commanding after a number of rounds . Not any more !

Kirby did a number of things to this rifle tha t may help it be a shooter , if it doesn't it will no t be his fault as we stopped short by not putting a match grade bbl on it . Just hoping the Sako bbl would be up to the half moa we were wanting out of this rifle .

I normally shoot extremely free recoil . Just for fun I took a moderate hold on the rifle while shooting factory ammo at 100yds to check velocities against advertised velo ( 200 fps shy ) anyways , I could almost spot my shots at 100!!

I know exactly what you mean. He sent me a target of the initial shots from my rifle when he got her done. Well after getting it and and breaking everything in, I was getting a little skeptical about his claim. Well, since I have never had a custom built rifle for myself, much less one which was as carefully machined as this, I was having a hard time believing that the target I got was actually from my rifle.

Turns out it odviously was, as after learning to adjust my techniques to accomodate such a precision piece, it will definatley shoot the small little holes similar to what he showed me to begin with. Of course he only shot it at 100yds, and had some story about a hurricane force wind....[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

I still haven't gotten it as small as what he did at 100yds, but here is what she will do for me so far at 200 and 500,

150gr Fireform loads...200yds
195gr Wildcat - Load Test...200yds
150gr FF load @ 500yds
169gr Wildcat @ 500yds
195gr Wildcat @ 500yds
Just goes to show, that sometimes things are what they appear, and sometimes you can believe what you read. Oh yea, the wind was terrible when I shot those groups [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

If you look at Mikes accuracy test target it looks like I was having random fliers with his rifle. That was not the case. The wind was blowing about 25 mph right into my face. Generally not a problem but I test the rifles shooting them off a shooting platform I built that is over the back of my S-10 4x4. ITs a great system, portable!! and generally very stable except in a direct head wind of this strength.

Then that happens the truck rolls with the wind. I had to pick my shots and on each group the wind got me so I had to shoot another shot. Thats the reason for the vertical fliers, DAMN wind!!!

There he goes again [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] I remember the pix or your truck setup Kirby , suspension does wreak havoc with a setup like that . I have considered frame mounted hydraulic cylinders to solve that . Wouldn't be that difficult or expensive , Turn that chevy into one big ol shooting bench . [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

Just finished loading a ladder test with 180 Nosler AB's and RL 25 . ( I know I said Retumbo Kirby but I don't have any yet so whats a guy itching to load do ? )

I am not yet used to cases that swallow 90 to 100 + grs of powder each , the powder reservoir sure empties fast [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

WInd Blowing the shooting bench around... Yep thats what he told me. That plus something about a damn light trigger made it somewhat difficult to keep things together.

I can surly attest to that. Hell it took me a couple of weeks, before I could even come close to shooting what one might call a group with that thing.

I was shooting Tim's 300 one day after shooting the .270, and had to check it three times to be sure I had taken the safety off. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] Man what a difference that was. He got the RUM tuned up now and it is much better.